Something Deeper
by Water1Wolf
Summary: "Canaille knew that the boy would see the girl, and despite her denials, he knew the boy cared for her. And that the prince cared for the boy." The past can find us even when we're far away. But that's not all that can find us.


**This will be a more angsty story, I guess. Very few laughable moments, and you'll see why. Also has more mature themes of abuse and such. Just warning you.**

**Hey all! So, this is one of my 'unfinished' stories. No - don't leave yet! I just mean that I haven't written it all yet. If someone likes it (and posts a review saying so!), then I will continue writing the story, and you'll get the rest of it.**

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><p>The girl sat, hunched up, in a slight hollow in the ground. Canaille knew that the boy would see her, and despite her denials, he knew the boy cared for her. And that the prince cared for the boy.<p>

The Knight's hunting trip had passed by without a second glance a while ago – but the boy was still a while behind. Canaille had no doubt that he would come. And then he heard the cracking of the leaves under his feet. Maybe that was why the knights had left him. Canaille urged the others further into the bushes, and pushed Ladron forward – he was to shoot the dart.

The girl coughed just at the right point, as the boy walked past. And he froze and looked down at her. She was bound, gagged and blindfolded, so she could in now way warn the boy, just act as the bait.

"Oraia?" The boy's voice was worried as he dropped the rabbits hanging from his hands and started to run down the hill towards her. She wriggled, trying to warn him whilst she couldn't speak, but just causing him to run faster.

The dart shot out of the bushes and straight into his neck. He yelled out as a short flare of pain shot through his body, then fell down as the sleeping poison took effect. The bandits ran out and took out the dart, placing him in a position to make him look as if he just fell and knocked himself out, ready for when the knights found him, which they no doubt would – the boy had made quite a noise.

A sound echoed towards them, "Merlin?"

Canaille lifted up the girl and ripped off her blindfold, leaving her gagged so as not to warn the knights, then he dragged her into the bushes.

"Merlin?" The voice was slightly panicked. The bandits headed back into the bushes on either side of the dip, ready to fire at the knights. Canaille surveyed the work – the boy literally looked as if he had just fallen.

"Merlin!" The prince had appeared at the top of the hill now, and began to run towards the servant. The knights soon followed behind him, some muttering, wondering about the possibility of a trap, but Arthur was too concentrated on his fallen servant to see that. It was almost too easy for the bandits to fire the darts and take out the knights, dragging them into the bushes to take them back to Canaille's citadel.

There was a shuffling down the corridor and the girl looked up. The cell door was opened and the boy chucked in.

"Merlin!" She attempted to run forwards, but the chains pulled her back.

"Ooh, so you _do_ know the boy then." One of the guards snarled at her, "maybe you can explain the rules here to him." He kicked the sleeping boy and growled out, "like _no_ magic!" Grabbing the boy's chains, he yanked him towards the wall and locked the chains on. Then he idled forwards towards the girl, hitting her around the face. "And _that_'s for last time. You almost made me lose my job." The girl looked down, and just prayed that he would go away. "Boss'll be in to see you soon. He'll want to know about the _magic_ boy." He walked straight out and slammed the door behind him.

The girl dashed to the boy curled on the floor, "Merlin?" She stroked his head, and he started to wake. They hadn't knocked him out completely, then, or maybe he'd just been out for a long time and they'd only just thought to move him. His eyes flickered open.

"Oraia?" He asked. She nodded.

"Merlin, what did you do?"

He looked thoughtful for a second, then shouted out, making her jump, "Arthur!" He leapt up and focused on the door. His eyes flashed golden, and… nothing happened. He tried again, whispering something too low for Oraia to hear.

"Merlin, stop it." She commanded.

"Why isn't it working?" He pleaded.

"The walls." She indicated around them, "they're made of black diamond – it stops magic. Why do you think that I'm actually _talking_? Depending on the size of the diamond, it can do as little as just make it harder, but not impossible, to cast spells; or could, if the diamond was massive, as it is where they are mined, prevent magic for miles around."

"What about here?" He asked.

She sighed, "Complete prevention of magic within the room and up to two metres away, and for three metres beyond that magic is hard to cast. If you could get beyond that, then you could cast as easily as normally. Anyway, you never answered me, what did you do?"

"I just cast a spell to flip the cell door off, then tried to find Arthur. There must have been someone ready, though – I barely got very far before I was knocked out. Where are we, anyway?"

"Canaille's citadel. He's a bandit king – does all kinds of things; thieving, murdering, slave trading…"

There was the sound of footsteps from up the corridor, and they fell silent.

"What have we here then?" A man's voice asked in a joking manner, "How _lovely_ to see you getting along." He stepped into the cell, motioning with his hand for some of his guards (or whatever those lower down in the hierarchy were called) to follow. "You must be so _glad_ that I've finally brought your little friend back to you, Orai."

"Not with the way he's been treated, Canaille." Oraia stated coldly. Merlin seemed shocked at their seeming closeness and familiarity.

Canaille's eyes hardened, "I could treat him a lot worse, Oraia." She looked up in shock as one of the guards walked over and grabbed Merlin's arm, twisting it up behind him, making him moan in pain. Canaille only smiled.

"I'm sorry, Canaille." Oraia's voice had turned calm and obedient, her head turned down. "I did not mean to make silly accusations. Please, let him be." A simple hand movement from Canaille made the guard drop Merlin's arm, and Canaille moved closer to Oraia, lifting her head. He planted a soft peck on her lips, saying "goodbye, sweetheart," before leaving.

His footsteps faded down the corridor. Oraia had frozen as soon as he touched her, but now she fell to the floor. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him…" She was trembling against the diamond walls

Merlin walked over, shushing her.

"He does that just to spite me."

"What?"

"The whole-" She trembled and covered her hand with her mouth as she couldn't say the word "-thing. He acts like he loves me, and abuses me, and I just hate him. He's just so…" She drifted off.

Merlin just sat down beside her, his chains pulling his arms back but allowing the rest of his body to be close.

"Thanks, Merlin."

"For what?" He asked, surprised.

"For… for being here, and comforting me. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?"

She looked up at his inquisitive eyes, "sorry that this happened, that you've been forced into this, and Arthur, and the Knights…"

"It's not your fault."

Tears pooled up in her eyes. She whispered, "feels like it is – if I wasn't there, you wouldn't have come down the hill, and then they wouldn't have got you. And then Arthur wouldn't have come, and you'd all be safe."

"He'd have found a way, if Arthur is what he wanted, he would have managed somehow. You can't blame yourself for the evils of others."

"You know, Merlin," Oraia said, a light smile on her face and the tears drying up, "sometimes you even sound, dare I say it," a look passed between the two as she paused, "_wise_."

He smiled back at her, promising himself that, somehow, they would find a way out.


End file.
